Watchuseek Blog

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A time for inner reflection: Borgeaud Septagraph

Swiss Watchmaker Borgeaud is proud to present its patented Septagraph™, inspired by three millennia of Southern Indian astronomical observations combined with several centuries of Swiss horologic tradition.

Borgeaud pays tribute to the Indian Panchang and the Rahu Kaal, a calendar followed by hundreds of millions throughout the world, with a unique Seven-Day Complication which indicates a daily 90-minute strategic period dedicated to inner reflection before action.

Cue the sitar music, and assume the lotus position. Now imagine a window of time, arranged each day at a different time, a time of reflection and inner peace that you can reserve just for you.

Only you will know how best to employ this time you have reserved for yourself. It is a strategic time, a way to step back, an indispensable time of reflection before taking an action. It is a necessary retreat before moving forward to reach a goal.

The Panchang Calendar

The seven-day week has been almost universally accepted since time immemorial. Over the centuries and through various philosophies, these seven days of the week have come to be associated with a particular planet or with the sun or moon.

The numbers seven and eight also carry a wealth of symbolic overtones across the world’s great cultures and religions. Seven stands for completion, supreme power, perfection and sacred rest. For its part, the number eight is widely associated with prosperity, good luck, infinity and continuity.

Among all the calendars conceived by humanity, there is one, dating back 3,000 years, which is still followed by hundreds of millions of people around the world. It is the Indian calendar called Panchang.

It works through careful observation of the natural cycles of the planets, Indian astronomer-mathematicians, followed by astrologers, have determined eight natural 90-minute divisions of the 12 daytime hours between sunrise and sunset, conventionally considered as stretching from 6 am to 6 pm.

The Strategic Period

Among the day’s 90-minute periods, one is special, and they called it Rahu Kaal (the time of Rahu). This period is intended for thought and reflection rather than action. It is an intimate time, a private time. It is not a social time. It is a time that should be reserved for oneself, every day. Borgeaud calls it the Strategic Period. These periods represent an essential step back, one too often ignored, by stressed executives during the day.

These personal times are used for examining options or making choices and decisions, to avoid having to undo and redo what was badly designed or done in a hurry.

Now, for the first time ever, the Swiss watch brand Borgeaud has created a mechanical complication to remind us of these special daily moments. It is called the Septagraph.

The Septagraph; a new watchmaking complication

Swiss haute horologists Borgeaud have designed and constructed a new, totally original, and patented watch complication, called the Septagraph. Over a weekly cycle, where each day has a different reserved time, the Septagraph activates a countdown mechanism that runs for 90 minutes.

The time of the specific time period—the Strategic Period as Borgeaud calls it—varies from day to day, and is indicated in a counter placed between 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock.

At midnight, the jumping hand of the counter automatically moves to the day that has just started. Every day, at the appointed time for the activation of the Strategic Period, a large arrow positioned between 3 o’clock and 5 o’clock instantaneously fills with colour, thus signalling the beginning of the period and its countdown.

At the same time, a circle at the top of the arrow (engraved with an ‘SP’ for Strategic Period), also fills with colour. As the 90 minutes count down, the colour gradually leaves the arrow until it is again white once the strategic the period ends.

The BRG Q1051 is a quartz movement reserved for the six colourful ladies’ versions of the Septagraph.

A unique feature of this quartz movement is that it drives a mechanical complication using a rotational disc to colour the three hollowed out petals of the principal lotus flower.

In the ladies’ Septagraph, it is this lotus flower that poetically counts down the Strategic Period.

A symbol of the Borgeaud brand, this timepiece is endowed with a mechanical ‘aesthetic complication’ called The Manège. Patented and independent from the movement, it is the only one of its kind. In place of each of the ten visible hour markers, a diamond is placed in a mobile seat. With each movement of the wearer’s wrist, these diamond markers begin to pivot on themselves. The ladies versions range in price from US$23,500 to $32,300.